


Hearts and Hearts

by googlevixx



Series: Fae Days [2]
Category: VIXX, keo - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fantasy, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 06:34:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13676241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/googlevixx/pseuds/googlevixx
Summary: A Valentine's Day following the events of the currently-being-written Chapter 9 of hello yearning: a'plyae mae.





	Hearts and Hearts

Chocolate. It was a world of chocolate. Baskets of it, boxes of it, displays of the treat piled high in store windows of every kind, marketing to the female gender to grab their sweeties a sweetie before Valentine’s Day reared its ugly head. Doomsday. Taekwoon really did not like it. In fact, he very much disdained it, and it left him feeling rotten and empty almost every year because… Well, he’d been alone for so long. And loneliness could really eat up a person. Which really sucked, and Taekwoon was done pretending to enjoy himself around this time of year. (He also wasn’t going to rain on any couple’s parade just because he was frustrated though. That wasn’t right.)

There were times in the past that Jinsoo and him would go out to eat if his teammate happened to be single at the time. The last couple of years they’d spent having a few drinks, which was nice, but , while Jinsoo was a close friend and Taekwoon liked spending time with him, it just wasn’t the same as having a special someone around. (Plus there was Black Day, meaning that there was no necessity for them to go out and eat on Valentine’s Day, but it was a nice gesture.) When they were in a restaurant packed to the brim by couples, girls handing their beautifully- wrapped chocolates to the person of their dreams (for the moment) it tended to get a single- guy feeling down. 

In hindsight, high school had been better. Taekwoon had never been the bragging type, but he’d received the odd treat here and there from admirers in his teenage days. Now, there was never time to make connections. He guessed he hadn’t much time then, either, what with the training camps and physicals he had to go through. Still, finding the odd note and treat in his locker or bag after class ended was a nice surprise. He almost missed that. 

Taekwoon only ever gave three people chocolate on White Day. Not as a romantic gesture, but as a thank you. Since he was a sibling, he caught onto when his sisters were feeling particularly down. White Day had been no exception when the two most important people in his life came home empty- handed from school. The malaise on their faces caused a different kind of sadness to settle inside his heart. So Taekwoon had packaged up some of the sugary tidbits in red and pink because he knew that would make their days. He’d made sure to grab enough for his mother, too. (She’d never admit it, but Taekwoon knew she’d leant her touch to the surprise he got on that Valentine’s Day.) 

Preceding that specific White Day in his third year of high school, his family members had prepared for him an embarrassingly large display of chocolate to greet him in his living room before he left for class. At 7:30 in the morning, Taekwoon had to maneuver himself around a stuffed teddy bear that spoke various language but only one phrase: “I love you!”. Its distorted voice haunted Taekwoon to the present day, but the plethora of chocolates that came along with the bane of his existence nearly made up for it. Nearly. Also, his sisters consumed the majority of the chocolate they had bought for him, so who was the real winner? 

That had been the best Valentine’s Day. The three children left for school, but when they came back, it was a free- for- all. When his family- father included- binged on milk chocolates until they felt their bodies might split at the seams and his siblings tortured him with the bear that was found in a dumpster by two not-nearly- puzzled- enough garbage men the next day. (Garbage men probably saw a lot of shit, teenage Taekwoon had reasoned to himself. It was that, or lighting the bear on fire. Taekwoon still regrets tossing the ugly thing.) 

Every year after that, when Taekwoon sees that the calendar has hit the Dreaded Day, he winces. It hurt, knowing that things weren’t so simple as before. It hurt that he felt like he was more alone now than before. His heart was a tender thing, too easily damaged. Was that why all the packages were heart shaped on Valentine’s Day? Was that why everyone just accepted that love was the act of giving someone your heart? Because it was weak and frail? Because you were trusting someone to keep a hold on the thing most precious to you and not harm it? No thank you. Crushing of his core was clear of Taekwoon’s consciousness. Love is strange. 

Love is strange to him. Not the love that happens between family members, where if the people you’re stuck with are good to you and want what is best for you and look out for you. No. It’s the love that happens between people who grow close together; who sometimes grow up and old together. Wouldn’t it be tiring to be around someone for long hours of the day every day for years and years? Especially if they started out as strangers. Love at first sight was completely off the table, too. Taekwoon had no belief in it. Lust at first sight, definitely. He’d felt that a few times, but love? Love should cultivate, he thinks. It should sprout, like a plant, and blossom, because even if it isn’t incredibly breathtaking at its end result, the time that is put into its growth and health should be satisfying enough, right? Plants die, though. 

Flowers were a Valentine’s tradition, too. Taekwoon feels some sadness when he sees the rows and rows of bouquets placed neatly in plastic wrapping through the windows of the florist’s shoppe. This time he isn’t sad because of something so trivial as not receiving an arrangement, but because he knows the flowers are going to die. If they were lucky and went to a caring home, they may last a few weeks, but what was a few weeks worth to a flower? Was it worth it to look at them and know they were given by someone who cared for you? Was it worth it when they withered and drooped into somber death? It would make Taekwoon upset if he received flowers. He would just wait it out for Black Day this year and go out for food again with Jinsoo. Hopefully. If the man wasn’t… otherwise occupied. 

So, it’s a sight that causes some bewilderment to him when Taekwoon comes home after picking up Minyul from the child’s tutoring session (held at an after- school establishment because of late practice that day) and a sticky note is placed firmly on his front door. The writing is almost illegible, but Taekwoon knows whose it is. He’s seen it before, when a certain fae had made it his duty to learn the Korean alphabet. In all fairness, it was leaps and bounds from where Jaehwan had started, and Taekwoon could actually read the message fairly easily. 

Minyul was too short to make it out, so his uncle ripped the fluorescent pink sheet from the panelling to read aloud. 

“Only Minyul inside, please. A surprise for Uncle Ta.” Dread begins to settle in the pit of Taekwoon’s stomach as his nephew squeals, tossing his backpack onto the floor outside of the apartment for his uncle to pick up. From there, the child rapped five distinct knocks on the door in rhythmic pattern. Was that… had those two created a secret knock? Taekwoon has no time to comprehend the absurdity of the situation, because the door opens and closes so quickly he can barely blink. One moment, Minyul was excitedly bouncing in step in front of him, and the next he was gone. Taekwoon tries to jiggle the knob, but to no avail. It had been locked from the inside. What on earth is going on? 

He’s left with two bags, the smaller of which he flings over his shoulder as he waits. And waits. It feels like an eternity that he’s waiting, the unsettling sensation falling over him beginning to drag him down into the depths of angst and induce anxiety. For example, he knew that it was Jaehwan behind the door playing with him, but what if it wasn’t? And if it wasn’t Jaehwan, then Taekwoon had just let Minyul into the apartment with some random person who’d yanked the kid from his grasp. They could be miles away by now by elaborate scheme that involved ropes dropping from the ceiling and two people scaling the side of the apartment building. 

Taekwoon’s fantasies were just about to cause hypertension when the click of the lock finally sounded. The door could be opened now. 

Minyul’s backpack is heavier than Taekwoon anticipated, causing soreness in the one shoulder harbouring the weight as he enters the apartment. At first glance, there’s nothing. Not a single thing stirred, no item was out of place in the living room. Then he hears the giggles. On a normal day, the giggling would be a good sign, a sign that things were going right in the day, but now it was sending a chill up his spine. The sound is emanating from the direction of his bedroom. 

The soccer player deposits the bags just inside the door, firmly shutting and locking it behind him. There was no company expected to come over; locking was just a precaution he had to take for his own peace of mind. His mind was certainly not at peace at the moment. 

It takes gathering all his courage to make the walk down the hall. With every step, his legs begin to drag as though they’re made of lead. Each foot forward becomes heavier and heavier until he’s standing just outside the door to (his own!) bedroom. All he has to do at this point is peer inside. He just has to turn his head and peer inside and see what horror awaits him on this day. On D-day. On his least favourite day of the year. Taekwoon’s head turns so that he can see into the room.

“Oh!” Is the quiet exclamation that comes from him. What Jaehwan has done is actually quite lovely. The smile on Minyul’s face tells Taekwoon that his nephew had been in on this too. No wonder the two of them had been laughing. 

There are ribbons everywhere. That was the only bad part. Some inkling of thought was speaking to Taekwoon, murmuring to him that it was going to be his job to clean all of the mess up at some point. That didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy it now. 

There are the ribbons, and then there is everything else. A tin of tea cookies is on the bedside table where his phone charger and alarm clock usually sit, and a box of something that resembles pocky is on his pillow. Some lollipops, some tafee, some balls of a glitter-slime substance strewn over the room. Confetti and glitter… that was going to be a pain, too, but it looked nice at least, if not the tiniest bit corny. 

But then he sees it.  
The abomination. It sits in the far corner of the room, obscured from view unless he pivoted a specific way, but when he did pivot, Taekwoon was sure he was suffering from a night terror and that the situation was a figment of his imagination.

With beady, unstaring eyes, the giant plush bear of golden fur and cotton stuffing sits with its arms out, as if to drag Taekwoon into the pits of Hell with it. He can’t help his reaction. Taekwoon yells and stumbles back out of fear while his nephew and the fae start cracking up from laughter all over again. So, this was their tipping point. 

Red-faced, the two miscreants roll over the foot of Taekwoon’s bed where they’d originally situated themselves, smiles plastered over their bright and cheery faces as Taekwoon tried his best to regain his balance. He doesn’t though. Taekwoon falls flat on his ass, and that only sends the pair of jokers rolling again. Taekwoon huffs out a sigh as he glares up at them from his position on the floor. 

“Y-you sh-should have s-seen your f-face!” Jaehwan stammers, clutching at his stomach while Minyul squeals and falls over into the fae’s lap. The child drapes himself over Jaehwan’s legs, his mind probably not even comprehending just what about this picture was so funny, but Jaehwan was laughing and his uncle had fallen over, so that was grounds enough to warrant a howl or two. Taekwoon stares daggers at the mythical creature. He was still too stunned to be embarrassed. 

When the giggles subside and Taekwoon brushes off his sore butt, the three tear open the packages of candy. (To Taekwoon’s delight, there were more hidden underneath the covers of his bed, not a single one of them containing chocolate of any kind.)

⋯ ◯ ⋯⋯

“You’re the worst,” he mutters to Jaehwan later; when it gets late enough at night to warrant sleep. 

“Yeah, but you love me,” the fae replies snarkily, chuckling.

“How did you even know?” Is the indignant plea from Taekwoon, because, as far as he was aware, he’s never told Jaehwan about the bear incident.

“Oh, I have my ways. Your sister mostly. She called earlier on the landline, but you weren’t here so I just talked to her. She sounds great!” And then the fae presses the undersides of his cold feet to Taekwoon’s legs so that the soccer player can barely breathe for a second before spluttering:

“You talked to my sister?”  
“Yeah, I told her we’re dating and in love, too, so you don’t have to worry about it!” Jaehwan looks so pleased with himself. Taekwoon would let it slide for now. He was too tired from cleaning up all those sparkles to care that much. Even after a shower, the sparkles lingered, and he was sure he was going to be picking glitter specs from his body for at least the next week.  
There’s a minute of silence- until Taekwoon thinks Jaehwan might be asleep- when the fae’s voice comes from beside him in the bed.

“Are you mad at me?”  
“No, I’m not mad at you. I’m just tired.”  
“Oh.”  
Some more silence.  
“Your sister said that you don’t like Valentine’s Day.”  
Taekwoon grunts in response; a confirmation.  
“That sucks. I was gonna ask you to be my valentine,” Jaehwan sighs. The teddy bear sits outside of Taekwoon’s room, ready to be tossed outside in the morning to freeze.  
“You could still ask me.”  
“What’s the fun in that? Grouchy pants.”  
Taekwoon cracked a smirk at that. Nice new nickname.  
“I would say yes if you asked,” the soccer player taunts turning onto his side to face the fae. The closeness was welcome now. Jaehwan slipped his arm around Taekwoon’s waist, nuzzling his blond head into the pillow. Taekwoon liked that, how Jaehwan’s hair just fanned out in the way it did. Wildly. It was getting long. They really should go and get it cut. The soccer player can’t stop himself from reaching out to twist a few of the soft strands between his fingers. 

“Don’t feel like it now. You lost your chance,” the asparas teases, closing his eyes and letting out a drawn out fake snore. 

“You’re the worst,” Taekwoon relents.  
“You love me,” Jaehwan repeats.  
“Sure.”

One of Jaehwan’s eyes peek open, illuminating with a glossy periwinkle sheen. Taekwoon swallows hard as the fae’s voice lowers to a deep rumble.

“Check under your pillow,” the creature instructs, watching Taekwoon steadily, and the human feels a compulsion to comply. His hand leaves the softness of Jaehwan’s golden locks, instead dipping beneath the confines of the sheets to feel for the object unknown to him. The tips of his fingers touch plastic- he grips onto the object- and he slides whatever it was (it was a good size, how had he not felt that underneath his head?) out into the open. 

Even with the dim lighting coming off of his alarm clock, Taekwoon can make out the gaudy pink wrapping paper and heart- shape container. 

“Don’t tell me…” He trails off, sitting up to hold the box of chocolate at a more investigatable angle. 

“For you, Valentine,” Jaehwan sleepily mumbles, yawning for real now. Taekwoon can tell it’s real because Jaehwan tries to cover the yawn with his hand. He wouldn’t have bothered if he were faking. 

“You never asked me,” Taekwoon points out.  
“Don’t have to. I’ve labelled you as my Valentine, so you just are now. Too bad for you,” the fae snickers, burying his face into his own pillow and dragging the blankets up over his shoulders so that he was barely visible. Taekwoon snorts and places the chocolates- package still wrapped- on the ground beside his bed so he can settle in for sleep, too. 

When sleep continues to evade him, Taekwoon knows that something is bothering him. Jaehwan’s breathing had long since slowed to a steady pace, meaning he wasn’t interfering with the human’s emotions, so what was it? He wasn’t upset. Quite the opposite. When Taekwoon saw the chocolates, he wasn’t disgusted- he wasn’t distressed. Rather, he’d been glad. For the first time in a while, he’d been happy to get such a gift. 

“Oh.”  
The exhale is near silent, but Taekwoon’s realization sparks exclamation in his mind. He’d been happy because the gift had been from Jaehwan. And, maybe with the fae around, Valentine’s wouldn’t be so bad a day after all. 

The soccer player shifts so that he can lay eyes on the fae’s sleeping face, completely at peace. There was the hint of a smile playing across his lover’s lips, and Taekwoon was besotted all over again. That was a sight he wouldn’t soon be tiring of. But then he almost groans, barely catching himself in time to not wake the sleeping beauty beside him.

What was he going to do for White Day?

**Author's Note:**

> just a smol thing. i hope you all have a good Valentine's Day! Just remember, it's a fake holiday created by Hallmark, so if you don't have a sweetie this year, it doesn't really matter. And if you do have someone you hold dear, make sure they know you care about them. It's just a nice thing to do, isn't it? <3


End file.
